I took a walk around Nantucket town hoping to capture a street scene that captured the essence of the island, and this simple photo seemed to fit the bill. What I love about Nantucket is its very American authenticity; there are no chain stores or restaurants–shops and businesses are locally owned and unique–giving the island a character that is largely lost in our modern culture. (On our recent visit to Prague, there were KFC restaurants everywhere–what a shame.)
Streets are narrow (and unfortunately very crowded), but the automobile culture here is to be courteous, smile and wave, and let the other guy go first. There are bicycles and pedestrians and children everywhere, and the cumulative effect is that this island often feels like America in a slower paced and simpler time.
Of course, local real estate prices rival the Hamptons, the yachts filling the boat basin are hardly modest and preppies in brightly colored embroidered pants fill the streets. But I choose to just ignore all that and get my hands sticky eating ice cream.
